3.
 The abundant diversity of peoples living in Georgia has meant acorrespondingly rich assortment of existing religions. Today, the majority of Georgia’s inhabitants follow OrthodoxChristianity, chiefly the Georgian Orthodox Church (83.9%). About 2% follows the Russian Orthodox Church; approximately 3.9%of the population follows the Armenian Apostolic Church (of whommost are ethnic Armenians). According to the CIA Factbook, Muslims account for 9.9% of thepopulation; they primarily live in the Adjara and Kvemo Kartliregions, and in Tbilisi (as a sizable minority). Roman Catholics comprise almost 0.8% of the population; they chieflylive in the south of Georgia and a small population in Tbilisi. Tbilisi is also home to a sizable Jewish community, served by twosynagogues; the other major community is in Kutaisi. The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church is one of theworld’s most prehistoric Christian churches, established in the firstcentury by the Apostle Saint Andrew. Christianity was adopted as Georgia’s state religion in the first half ofthe fourth century; this adoption has presented a strong sense ofnational identity that has contributed to defend a national Georgianidentity, in spite of recurring periods of foreign occupations andattempted assimilation. Georgia has a long history of religious harmony within itsboundaries, despite the past clashes with its neighbors. For thousands of years, various religious minorities have livedin Georgia; religious bigotry is all but unknown there. For centuries, Azerbaijanis have practiced Islam in Georgia, ashave Ajarians and some of the Abkhazians concentrated intheir own self-governing republics. The Armenian Apostolic Church, whose doctrine, to anextent, differs from Georgian Orthodoxy’s, has autocephalousstanding.

5.
 The Politics of Georgia is modeled off a presidential representative democratic republicwith a multi-party structure; the President is the head of state and the PM is the head of theGeorgian Government. The government exercises executive power; legislative power is vested in both thegovernment and the parliament. The party structure has been ruled by the National Movement – Democrats since the RoseRevolution. Since the first multiparty, democratic parliamentary elections of 28 October 1990, Georgiahas been a democratic republic. Excluding the self-governing regions of Abkhazia and Adjara, and the once self-governingregion of South Ossetia, the Georgian state is vastly centralized. Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were autonomous within the Georgian SSR underSoviet rule, have unilaterally split from Georgia. Whereas Georgia’s government currently recognizes Abkhazia as self-governing withinGeorgia, they do not in any way recognize South Ossetia.

6.
 Deliberation of replacing Georgia’s republic form of government with some type ofconstitutional monarchy has become a subject of the Georgian political debate since theGeorgian Orthodox primate and other leading Georgians proposed that idea in 2007.

8.
THE PRESIDENT’S ROLE MAIN OFFICE HOLDERS The President, who is elected for afive-year term, is the head of state. The Chairman of the Parliament ishis legal successor. A PM, who serves as the head ofgovernment, is nominated by thepresident. Office: President• Name: Mikheil Saakashvili• Party: United NationalMovement• Since: 20 January 2008 Office: Prime Minister• Name: Bidzina Ivanishvili• Party: Georgian Dream• Since: 25 October 2012

9.
 The Parliament of Georgia (SakartvelosParlamenti), also called the UmaghlesiSabcho (Supreme Council), consists of 235members, elected to a four-year term; 150seats through proportional representation, 75in single-seat constituencies, and 10 given tothe delegates of the shifted people from theseparatist region of Abkhazia. According to the constitutional revisionsmade in 2003, the parliament will be madeup of only 150 members elected through theproportional representation structure and willbe completely renovated. David Usupashvili is the current Speaker ofParliament.

11.
 Georgia has a Supreme Court, with judges elected by the Parliamenton the suggestion of the president; it also has a Constitutional Court.

12.
 Born 21 December 1967 in Tbilisi. Third and current President of Georgia, since 20 January2008; also the current leader of the United NationalMovement Party. Has participated in national politics since 1995; becamepresident on 25 January 2004 following President EduardShevardnadze’s resignation in the November 2003bloodless “Rose Revolution” led by Saakashvili and hispolitical allies, Nino Burjanadze and Zurab Zhvania. Was subsequently re-elected in the Georgian presidentialelection held on 5 January 2008. Is commonly seen as a pro-NATO and pro-West leaderwho presided over a series of political and economicchanges. Had a 67% approval rating in 2010, in spite of criticismfrom the domestic opposition for his suspected dictatorialtendencies and electoral fraud. Some non-Georgian sources spell his first name as theRussian version of the name Mikhail. Is frequently called Misha, a hypocorism for Mikheil, inGeorgia. Admitted defeat in the Georgian parliamentary electionagainst Bidzina Ivanishvili the day after it was held (2October 2012).

13.
 Born 18 February 1956 in Chorvila. 10th and current PM of Georgia. Leads the coalition Georgian Dream, which wonthe October 2012 parliamentary election; wasconfirmed as PM on 25 October 2012. Was given French citizenship in March 2010and lost his Georgian citizenship in October2011 “according to Article 32 of the GeorgianLaw on Citizenship”, not long after he declaredhis intent to form a political party to opposePresident Mikheil Saakashvili. Was reinstated as a Georgian citizen afterterminating his French citizenship before hecould become PM later in October. Was ranked #153 in Forbes magazine’s yearlylist of the world’s billionaires with a guesstimatedworth of USD 6.4 billion, in March 2012; thismakes him the richest person in Georgia.